Town Square

Should a new Hillview Middle School be built, and the old one torn down?

Original post made
by Richard Hine, editor of The Almanac,
on Feb 24, 2007

Please post your comments below.

The school board of the Menlo Park City School District plans to meet Tuesday, March 6, to decide on the scope of a plan to rebuild the Hillview Middle School campus. The meeting starts at 7 p.m. at Hillview School, 1100 Elder Ave. in Menlo Park.
In anticipation of a 40 percent enrollment growth by 2015, the board favors a radical approach: build all-new facilities  including three wings of two-story classroom buildings  on what is now the playing field, and then tear down all of the existing facilities, except the multi-use building. The space where classrooms are located now would become a four-acre playing field and hard-court area.
About 200 parents, neighbors and others attended a Jan. 30 board meeting held to discuss options for rebuilding or expanding Hillview.
A petition signed by 80 neighbors of the school was presented to the board. It raised concerns about "serious consequences" from increased traffic and parking tied to sharply higher enrollment. Enrollment projections show a growth from 659 students now to 913 in seven years.
For information from the Menlo Park City School District, go to: Web Link
Here are links to Almanac stories:
-- "Bold plan to rebuild Hillview Middle School" Web Link
-- "Neighbors fear 'serious consequences' of Hillview rebuild" Web Link
-- "Community speaks up about new Hillview school" Web Link
To send comments, suggestions and/or questions to all five board members and the superintendent, send an e-mail to: board@mpcsd.org.

Posted by MP parent
a resident of Hillview Middle School
on Mar 7, 2007 at 1:09 pm

You might get more postings if this were included in the tab for Menlo Park.
Increased traffic volume and reduced safety for kids are interrelated. Add to the mix are a lack of sidewalks along Santa Cruz. Result - far too many kids are driven. These matters will be even worse and must be addressed directly.

school district should pay for 2 new signals at Elder/Santa Cruz and Olive/Santa Cruz. this would make it safer to cross and for better traffic control. With signal control, (i.e. no right turn on red for eastbound Santa Cruz traffic) it would also provide a much needed break in the steady caravan of traffic on Santa Cruz, allowing much needed ingress/egress for both Santa Cruz residents and those on intersecting streets. We need to offset the excess of signals on Sand Hill that discourage drivers from using that new "bypass", that is just a parking lot at rush hour. Putting more signals on Santa Cruz would not only improve safety for pedestrians/cyclists but would make Santa Cruz less of a "cut Through" route for Palo Alto bound commuters. Think of it as "valves" in our messed up circulation system that controls who gets in and who gets out of our neighborhoods

I don't live on Santa Cruz and do take it as a way home at night, so my natural constituency would be for no new traffic lights.

But if lights at Olive and Elder would make life better for residents trying to exit from side streets, I'm for it. It's unfair for them to have to wait on the streets where they live while people who live on other streets make free with Santa Cruz Avenue.

Don't miss out on the discussion!Sign up to be notified of new comments on this topic.

Email:

Post a comment

Posting an item on Town Square is simple and requires no registration. Just complete this form and hit "submit" and your topic will appear online.
Please be respectful and truthful in your postings so Town Square will continue to be a thoughtful gathering place for sharing community information
and opinion. All postings are subject to our TERMS OF USE, and may be deleted if deemed inappropriate by our staff.

We prefer that you use your real name, but you may use any "member" name you wish.